Washboard



M. Wi. DESSAU wAsHBoARn Filed oct De@ E8 ,1923.

Crepe Fubbef //V VEA/TOI? Patented Dec.. lf3, i923.

UNHTE STAT# MORLAND MICHOLL DESSAU, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

WASHBOARD.

' Application tiled October 29, 1923.

To all who/1a vt may concern Be it known that l, MonnANn MlcnoLL DnssAU, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at London, England, have invented Improvements in or Relating to Vashboards (for which I have filed application in Great Britain November 22, 1921, No. 31,263), of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to washboards and has for its object to provide an improved surface whereon to support clothes and other articles whilst soaping or treating the same and over which the clothes are afterwards rubbed.

As is now well known numerous proposals have been made from time to time to use in washing apparatus coverings, sometimes perforated, constituted of sundry material including rubber which has been treated as by moulding, puckering, folding or the like, to produce studs, bristle-like surfaces, diamond and other shaped projections or broken frictional surfaces.

In contradistinction to the foregoing, which are necessarily relatively expensive forms of covering, a washing board according to the present invention comprises a thin flexible sheet of what is most frequently termed crpe or smoked sheet rubber mean ing thereby such raw rubber sheet of commerce as has a highly roughened surface and can be used directly as a covering without having to be subjected to any mechanical treatment to produce the required frictional properties provided it be held taut by at least two of its opposite edges. The rubber,

` which is thin, is vulcanized by a cold process such as the Peachey process. lf desired the sheet rubber may be backed or reinforced with a substantially non-stretching fabric; and it may be perforated as shown at f in Fig. 3.

A covering of this kind whether it be stretched over a flat or corrugated surface or supported in other appropriate way will be found to produce an effective lather and enable dirt to be quickly and easily removed without undue wear upon the washing. rlhe covering is exceedingly cheap, can be thus readily replaced when worn and may be applied to the board in various ways. Conveniently both sides of a board may be covered by a single sheet of the material passed over Serial No. 671,559.

`an adjustable roller or stretching member' arranged in the bight formed by securing two opposite edges to the board.

The wash boards may be so constructed as to have pockets or recesses to hold the soap or in another construction these pockets or the like may contain the soap or the like so as to give a continuous soaping and lathering tothe clothes without waste.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. l is a perspective view of a portable washboard showing one way of carrying out t-he invention. Fig. 2 is a section through a portion thereof and Fig. 3 is a similar section of a modification. Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are fragmentary Views illustrating other modifications applicable to a portable washing board. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view showing a broken-away portion of a washboard having a covering of crpe sheet rubber and a backing or reinforcing layer of substantially non-stretching fabric applied thereto.

As shown in Fig. l a sheet a of crpe rubber is attached at one end b to the lower rail c and after passing around a roller at' is attached at the opposite end to the other side of the rail c. e is the backing board which in Fig. 2 is shown as having one face plain and the other face corrugated. Fig. 3 illustrates the provision of two soap containing pockets in a board having bot-h faces plain and a covering of perforated crpe sheet rubber. rlhe roller CZ has pivots which, extending through slots g in the legs of the washboard. are mounted in eye screws 72. so that with the aid of wing nuts el the roller can be adjusted to tighten or slacken the rubber sheeting a.

The rubber may be first cured and afterwards affixed as a sheet to the face of a board as in Fig. 4t, by means such as a framing of strips j which may' be either plain or rubber covered.. Ur as shown in Fig. 5 the board may in addition be formed with holes such as Zi filled with rubber and to which the crpe or ysmoked sheet facings are affixed. lf as in Fig. .6 the holes be filled with plugs m of a length sufficient to project beyond the board the crpe rubber facing when affixed thereto will be supported clear of the board and thus act like a pneumatic cushion. As

a further modification shown in Fig. 7 crpe and a covering of thin crpe sheet rubberv having a rough surface held taut upon the support by at least two of its opposite edges. 2. A Washing board comprising a Support,

' anda covering of'thin crpe sheet rubber havingay rough Surface@ heldtaut upon: the

support by at leastl'wo of'tsfoppo'sitey edges` said rubber sheet beingl vulcanized.y

3. A Washing board comprising a support, having a'fcavfity therein adapted'to` receive a detergent;A and 'a covering of ythin crpe Sheet rubber having fperforatiohs"'therein and stretched taut luqw1r`the- Support and cover` ing-the d'etergent cavity. Y

4. A Wash'inglboa-rd comprising'a'ineinb'er having t-Wo sidesserving ae supportsur'facee anda covering-ol thin c-rpesheet 'rubber having a rough surface stretched over both sides of the support.

5.*A Washing board .having two sides serving supports, a thin flexible sheet ot raw rubber attached at one edge to one Side and at the -opposite-edgeto the other side of the said Washboard, the fastened edges being adjacent leaving a bight in the rubber `sheet at one end of the washboard and means 'arranged in the 'bight'whereby the rubber sheet can be stretched. y

(3. A washing board, `both sides of which are adapted to Serve as"supliorte' a single sheet of crpe rubber att-ached at one edgeto one edge of one side of the ysupport passed overthe opposite edge 'ofthesupporUand attached to theother side otheY 'support 10aa/'ing a blght in'the rubber-"Sheet,v a

Stretching rollerarrangedin thefbightl y aforeaid and means for adjusting the 'posi-1 tion5 of' said roller-s Signed 'at Londo1'i`, England', this 19th" day."

of October '1923.5 A y I y b/IRLANLD NICHOLL DESSAU-.n 

